HSK 4 ≈ CEFR B2 213 characters 14 sentences

Keeping Up Running (坚持跑步)

Day one lasted eight minutes. Day four hundred was a marathon — and he still doesn't like running.

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坚持跑步

liǎng年前niánqián决定juédìng开始kāishǐ跑步pǎobù
Two years ago I decided to start running.
第一dìyītiānpǎole / liǎo / liào分钟fēnzhōngjiùpǎo不动budòngle / liǎo / liào
On the first day I lasted eight minutes before I couldn't go on.
zhànzài路边lùbiānchuǎn觉得juéde自己zìjǐ特别tèbié可笑kěxiào
I stood by the road getting my breath back, feeling faintly ridiculous.
那时nàshíhòu一百yībǎi八十bāshíjīnzǒuliǎngcénglóudōulèi / léi / lěi
At the time I weighed ninety kilos and two flights of stairs tired me out.
朋友péngyoushuō坚持jiānchí不了bùliǎo一个yīgè星期xīngqī
A friend said I wouldn't keep it up for a week.
shuō实话shíhuà自己zìjǐ这么zhèmexiǎng
To be honest, I thought the same.
zuìnánde / dì不是búshì第一dìyītiān而是érshì第十dìshítiān
The hardest day wasn't the first — it was the tenth.
nà / nèi天下tiānxiàzhāo / zhaó / zhe / zhù / zhuó特别tèbiéxiǎngzhǎo理由lǐyóu
It was raining, and I badly wanted an excuse not to go.
最后zuìhòu还是háishìchūménle / liǎo / liàozhīpǎole / liǎo / liào十五shíwǔ分钟fēnzhōng
In the end I went out anyway, and only ran fifteen minutes.
可是kěshìcóngnà / nèitiānjiùzài没有méiyǒutíngguò
But from that day on I never stopped again.
慢慢mànmàndì / de分钟fēnzhōng变成biànchéngle / liǎo / liào二十èrshí分钟fēnzhōng二十èrshí分钟fēnzhōng变成biànchéngle / liǎo / liào一个yīgè小时xiǎoshí
Slowly, eight minutes became twenty, and twenty became an hour.
上个月shànggèyuè跑完pǎowánle / liǎo / liào人生rénshēng第一dìyī马拉松mǎlāsōng
Last month I finished the first marathon of my life.
不敢bùgǎnshuō自己zìjǐ爱上àishàngle / liǎo / liào跑步pǎobù——shuō实话shíhuàdào现在xiànzài也不yěbùtài喜欢xǐhuan
I wouldn't claim to have fallen in love with running — honestly, I still don't much like it.
可是kěshì喜欢xǐhuan那个nèigè每天měitiāndōunéng说到shuōdào做到zuòdàode / dì自己zìjǐ
But I do like the version of me who does what he says he'll do, every day.

Words to notice

跑步pǎobù
Run (jog)
坚持jiānchí
Continue (insist on)
习惯xíguàn
Custom (habit - be use to - usual practice)
放弃fàngqì
Give up (renounce - abandon)
变化biànhuà
Change
目标mùbiāo
Goal (target - objective)
Drill this level's full word list on the HSK 4 vocabulary page or with HSK 4 flashcards.

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